Governor Doug Burgum’s executive budget his ignited several debates over policy and spending across the state. Perhaps one of the most heated so far is the proposed relocation of the Dakota Women’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Center, a prison facility for female inmates current located in New England, North Dakota. On one side of the debate is…

On the radio show today newly-elected Bismarck Mayor Steve Bakken joined me to discuss the recent visit to his community by the anti-gun student activists from Parkland High School, including David Hogg. Bakken spoke at a pro-2nd Amendment rally outside of the Parkland event and then was invited inside to listen to the presentation. He…

Earlier this year Duane Sand, who ran for both the U.S. House and Senate on behalf of the NDGOP in previous cycles and once gave me one of the most colorful comments I’ve ever received in my political writing career, challenged two incumbent Republican lawmakers in the District 47 (Bismarck) House race. I’m a believer…

There’s no getting around the fact that incumbency gives incumbents certain advantages in an election cycle. Things like name recognition, an already established campaign mechanism, etc. Perhaps this isn’t an entirely bad thing. Perhaps, if you’ve already won the trust of voters once, the bar should be a little higher for those seeking to unseat…

Last week I posted about an incident from Bismarck where an officer involved in shooting a member of the public who was allegedly attacking him invoked Marsy’s Law to hide his identity from the public. Marsy’s Law is the supposed “victims rights” amendment to the state constitution passed by voters last year. Among the bad…

There are two points of view when it comes to economic development policies which include tax exemptions. Critics say that by exempting certain businesses or properties from taxes narrows the overall tax base, putting upward pressure on the taxes levied on everyone else not exempted. Proponents argue that the exemptions spur development which wouldn’t happen…

Earlier this week, in writing about the effort to recall Bismarck Mayor Mike Seminary, I flagged an email City Administrator Keith Hunke sent to a BCI investigator working on verifying the signatures which requested that he specifically interview the eleven Bismarck Police Department Officers who had signed the petition. Hunke has told me he’s not…

I think it’s safe to say that the City of Bismarck’s handling of a recall petition aimed at Mayor Mike Seminary has been something less than ideal. For one thing, the city had the Bureau of Criminal Investigation verify signatures of the recall petitions, which some have (rightly, I think) seen as somewhat intimidating. For…

Yesterday we got news that, because of over 600 invalidated signatures, the activists trying to recall Bismarck Mayor Mike Seminary had failed to put the issue on the ballot. They needed 1,898 signatures to start a recall election. They submitted 2,405 signatures, but 668 signatures were invalidated for various reasons according to the Bismarck Tribune, leaving just…

Recall elections have been in state headlines a lot recently. An effort to recall Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn has belly flopped, which I’m glad of. Despite the recall committee declaring publicly that they had, or would have, enough signatures to put Piepkorn on the ballot it turns out they couldn’t muster the requisite number.…